Exploring like a Magpie

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A colleague once called me a magpie. He said I was attracted to the latest flashy tech or math tools. The problem was the time I spent trying them out only to find they weren’t what I needed (time saving) or what my students needed (something to drive the learning deeper or to make it engaging). I took his words to heart and narrowed my focus. It found it best if one tool could be used for multiple things. Desmos is my go-to resource for so many reasons. My students use the graphing calculator for math and for art.

I also use Desmos activities. What could be simpler than googling whatever you are teaching with Desmos after it and finding a wealth of activities. You may need to sort through them to find one that fits your needs or you can copy and edit one to make it yours. The more you use Desmos activities, the more courage you will have to edit them. Eventually you will create your own and then you will attend some webinars to get even better at creating activities. It is an exciting journey limited only by time.

Recently I started hearing about  https://mathigon.org/polypad. I wanted to dig into it but didn’t have time. We were studying the Pythagorean Theorem so I thought I would look at Polypad just in case I could use it for this lesson. I could and I did use it to have my students prove to themselves that the parts of a² and b² did indeed fit into c² if you cut them up. Who knew that when you searched for the Pythagorean Theorem you would find the timeline of mathematicians. We all went down that rabbit hole and shared what we learned. We had a bit of time at the end of class & I asked the students to explore. Some played chess. Some played the piano that also has animal noises (I would never have found this feature) and many got caught up with creating patterns. I remember early in my teaching career being told to let the kids play with any manipulatives you plan to use. I think the same is true for online manipulatives. I am excited to keep learning with Mathigon. This is a shiny object I will keep. 

Jane Juten
Region 8 Director